She went Matron Mama Morton on a few Native American tribes in Washington state, and it looks like it paid off for her:

Democrats in the Legislature began the weekend period by mounting strong defenses of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s indefensible giveaway of gaming rights to Native American tribes without requiring that a percentage of the resultant revenue be paid to the state. Every other state with tribal gaming has such a requirement. The tribes, in their gratitude, passed big political money to the state Democratic party which, in turn, passed most of it to Gregoire’s campaign. An old and tawdry story one might have more greatly expected in Huey Long’s Bayou Country or 1960s Chicago precincts rather than in our nominal clean-politics oasis.

There is a sound rule in politics: When you’ve really blown it, and have no reasonable excuse for a bad policy or political action, it is best to shut up and let the matter rest. Instead, Democrats and Gregoire have chosen to bring the matter to even higher visibility — thus making it an easier target for Republicans and Gregoire’s Republican opponent, former state Sen. Dino Rossi.